India

India — page 3 — PAST INTO PRESENT ON 0 I A o n e I ANCIENT INDIA continued to campaign for independence The first cities on the Indian subcontinent From 1885 this struggle was led by the grew over 4 000 years ago in present day Indian National Congress which is still a Pakistan India s main religion now called major political party today Hinduism developed about 3 000 years ago and possibly after settlers arrived from INDEPENDENCE AND Central Asia AFTERWARD India won independence in 1947 with the FOREIGN INVADERS partition of the country into predominantly The Presidential House Approximately between 320 and 1000 AD Hindu India and the largely Muslim in New Delhi designed after centuries of being small kingdoms Pakistan As people from both communities by British architect larger Indian empires grew In 1526 Muslim fled across the new borders violence left Edwin Landseer Lutyens invaders set up the Mughal Empire in India approximately a million people dead Until shows the British legacy The British traded with the Mughals through 1972 Pakistan was divided into two parts India the privately owned East India Company West Pakistan and East Pakistan with India Eventually this became more powerful than located between them In 1972 following the Mughals and even had its own army In a war between India and both parts of 1857 Indian soldiers in this army rebelled Pakistan East Pakistan became independent Following this the British government took Bangladesh with India s support West direct control of India although Indians Pakistan simply remained

India — page 4 — CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING INDIA An Indian soldier duty in Kashn Tensions between India and Pakistan which date back to the partition are especially acute in this region TENSIONS Although they live in one of the world s fastest growing economies many Indians remain poor This wealth gap dates partly from British rule when development designed more to make money for the rulers than the mass of the people Many Indians also blame governments since independence for mismanaging the economy Poverty and tensions between Hindus and Muslims have made Indian politics volatile Occasional outbreaks of rioting and violence occur Relations between India and Pakistan are strained War has broken out several times mostly over the region of Kashmir which is claimed by both countries This is especially dangerous as both countries are nuclear powers now MAHATMA GANDHI PEACEFUL PROTESTOR Mahatma Gandhi is the most famous campaigner for Indian independence Born in 1869 in Gujarat Gandhi trained as a lawyer in London As leader of the Indian National Congress he led the campaign for independence and was imprisoned as a dangerous rebel although he always rejected violence Gandhi opposed the partition of India and was assassinated by a Hindu extremist in 1948 Gandhi s belief in the importance of nonviolent protest lives on today and he is honored by peace movements all over the

India — page 5 — FOCUS ON MUMBAI ISLAND CITY Mumbai is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra Originally called Bombay it was an island with that name off India's west coast In 1995 the Maharashtra state government officially changed Bombay s name to Mumbai a name some local people had always used after a Hindu goddess Mumba who is especially important to city Renaming the city was part of a move throughout India to change place names associated with British rule Today Mumbai is India s wealthiest and most populous city the MUMBAI IN HISTORY The area around Mumbai has been settled for thousands of years and was an important port as long ago as 1000 BC After a brief under Portuguese rule the powerful British East India Company established control Over e city In he 1850s cotton spinning and weaving mills were set up Trade In the 1950s it spread northward after flourished especially during the US Civila a causeway was built to a neighboring War when no cotton was exported fro the island Salsette Today the Mumbai United States and Mumbai became wealthy Metropolitan Region takes in the city of Mumbai and a number of satellite The Haji Ali Dargah is a tomb and This fan Mumbai landmark is visited by people of all religions It is linked to the city by a road that can only be reached at low tide MUMBAI TODAY towns It is one of the world's most Textiles are still important but Mumbai is heavily populated cities with more a center for many industries These include than 20 million inhabitants up from metals electronics chemicals and making approximately 12 million in 1991 cars It is also the home of Bollywood Mumbai s population density is about India's film hub see page 36 and India s 30 000 people per 4 square miles 1 sq km believed to be the highest in the world CROWDED CITY Being on an island Mumbai has alway been densely populated By the end of the 19th century it was already overcrowded financial center 10

India — page 6 — CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING INDIA People shop at a Mumbai street market Mumbai has modern shops and supermarkets but many people prefer to buy food from open air markets A group of film extras pose on the set of an Indian made Chowpatty Beach Mumbai Mumbai movie Mumbai is a has a number of beaches This is its best known center for movie making and is often called Bollywood a mix of Bombay and Hollywood and often one of the most crowded TID 11

5

PAGE 5 OF 41

›

The only kids' eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others.

JavaScript Required

Whoops! We're sorry but Epic doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Check your web browser's settings to make sure it's enabled.